Of Loyalty and Strength
by Penguistic
Summary: Firestar comes to terms with the prophecy given to him many moons ago, and tries to predict the futures of Lionkit, Hollykit, and Jaykit. Of course, he could never be more wrong. He also is reminded that he is living through a simple time, and that he should enjoy it as so.


_A/N- This is the first of 100 one-shots that I am working on, one per day. I upload them all to my Deviantart account, Red-And-Black, so I thought I might as well do so here. _

The light morning sun filtered through the crevices of the rocks, sending off beams of light that splashed onto the orange tom's pelt and made it brighter then it already was. He was asleep, enamored with the rest that he was being provided after all that had happened lately. It was not often that the leader of Thunderclan got a break, and he had been forced to enjoy it too. No longer could he dolt upon the clan for that night, as Leafpool had thought he was overworking himself, and had ordered him to get some form of rest that lasted longer that what he usually gave himself. It had been an order from the hard-working she-cat that he had been forced to abide by.

Soon enough though, the sounds of the early morning awoke him. He slowly lifted his head from where it was perched, and stretched out. It felt nice, to finally being lowered down, not by choices, but by having just been woken up. Firestar's emerald eyes scanned around his den, made of rocks and it's entrance, covered in some form to help block out the sun on the lightest of days. The way that the morning had chosen to greet him was definitely relaxing, and helped sooth his mind as soon as it had started to bring up a subject of something that had bothered him lately.

You see, the prophecy that had been plaguing him since his visit to restore Skyclan had recently caught up to him. Squirrelflight had given birth to three kits recently, and although the clan was abuzz with the arrival of these new little ones, they had him thinking about something besides the fact that they looked healthy and well, except for the blind one, Jaykit, who would never see. That prophecy had spoken of three cats, kin of his kin, who would hold the power of the stars in their paws. It certainly seemed like these three could be the ones, as he did not have any other kin in the clan beside Leafpool, who couldn't have kits, and Cloudtail, who had yet to produce a litter boasting three kits of his own.

How could Starclan not let him know when these three were coming? If they were as important as having been spoken of, shouldn't he be notified about what was to come? It might have been some time since he had been visited by the cats with the stars in their pelt, but he did not see that as something to inhibit being spoken to. Had he manage to do something, or had Starclan simply gone quiet for time? After all, it now seemed as if they had problems of their own to work out.

Firestar nestled in his nest, deep in thought. He contented himself with looking at his paws, fascinated with how the bright sunlight played off of them and made his pelt lighter. However, as I have stated, his mind was in other places. These places were places that no other cat could ever dream about visiting, as they did not hold the answers to getting there like he did. His mind was his tomb in a way, and most of the time he kept himself locked up there to avoid having others try to figure out what he was thinking.

Now, Lionkit, well, Lionkit seemed to be like him in many ways at birth. He would probably not stay that way though, as kits never tended to follow the path he thought they would. He had that same golden pelt that stood out amongst the others. It might not be orange, but he certainly seemed like he would be the sort of cat to make an impression. What others thought of him was right. He would make a fine warrior.

Hollykit was a dark black she-cat with bright green eyes, and though he could not figure out much about her at the time, she seemed like she would lead the normal life of a cat. He could not see her doing anything out of the ordinary, not when she had the parents that she had.

Now, Jaykit was a whole different story from the other too. Blind at birth, Firestar was unsure as to whether he would ever be able to become a warrior. It would be impossible to perform warrior duties if he could not see in front of him. What if they went into battle? He would surely not last, and he could not put Squirrelflight through such a loss. Maybe there was something else that he was meant to do. His future would be different from that of the others, and he knew that.

It all felt so odd, to know that soon there would be something much more serious coming. It had been moons since he had been forced to realize that it would be his duty to help save the forest. He had been there when Tigerstar had threatened Ravenpaw. He had been there when the brown tabby tom plotted for treason against his own clan to gain power, and he had been there when he had fallen at the paws of Scourge.

At those times, he had to realize that loyalty and strength to help lead Thunderclan had been what he needed. That loyalty and strength had been what had kept the clan from going into a full-scale war with Windclan when Bluestar had gone crazy with distrust for everything around her due to Tigerstar's bidding. It was also what had helped rid the forest of the dogs that had threatened their lives and had managed to kill Bluestar, after the she-cat did the bravest thing possible, and leapt over the side of the cliff and into the river. These things had ended all of that, including Bloodclan, and as long as it kept it's presence with the clan, he had no doubts that they would be able to overcome such things again. The Journey had been a testimony to that too, and look at where they were now.

With this, he tried to understand how those three kits might someday grow up to help their clan. He could see them leading lives of normality, and that if they were the three, that whatever was gifted to them would not affect their daily lives lived within Thunderclan camp. Could he be wrong though? Would they possibly have much more then he originally thought in store for each and every one of them? With all of these thoughts whirling inside his head, he barely noticed Sandstorm padding into the den with a limp mouse hanging from her jaws.

"Something got your tongue?" she asked quietly. "You seem awfully silent today. I didn't think you would be able to listen to what Leafpool told you to do for as long as you have." After speaking up, she settled down beside him, dropping the mouse onto ground of the den and pushing it towards his paws so that it was within his view.

"I've just been thinking, that's all. That night of rest has helped me to come to a conclusion about some things that have to do with the future of Thunderclan," Firestar replied, looking graciously down at the mouse as the smell of the prey traveled up to him. It made his mouth water, and, without hesitation, he took a quick bite of the mouse. "Thank you for the prey be the way."

At that single moment, he realized how simple life was at the moment, and it numbed him, keeping him still. It was as if he had never known such a thing before, having had to take part in many of the clan's major troubles and battles since he became Firepaw. With a contented sigh, he let out a yawn and started to speak with Sandstorm again, deciding that it was best to simply enjoy those simple moments speaking with her, as he knew that things could always change within the blink of an eye.


End file.
